Rafale Deal - Why Rahul Gandhi Is Whining?

Every attempt at maligning the Modi Sarkar has failed. Nothing seems to stick. Even if it sticks, its longevity doesn’t go beyond two weeks. All that nonsense on Muslim and Christians under attack didn’t stick either. Congress is clueless, and so are the Pidis. Every bit of teaching by the ‘Cambridge Analytica’ types has failed. Much of the chest thumping for the cause of poor and Dalits didn’t work out as planned either. What should be done? Let’s go back to our era and analyze why people rejected us so savagely – scams. Scams, which almost is synonym with Congress party, appears to have come as an Eureka moment for the party of late. Finally Rahul Gandhi and his party seems to be learning from their own mistakes. Hence the last option left to sail through the desperation is to somehow find a scam in BJP government. If nothing in sight, let’s fabricate one. Precisely what Rahul Gandhi and his Pidis are busy doing since last couple of weeks. RG is dumb and it is a foregone conclusion. So, I am not surprised a bit seeing the gaffes that he made while ranting about ‘Rafale Aircraft’ deal. What surprises me is how out of desperation to serve the masters, the so called intellectual Pidis have turned even dumber. But much on that later. Let's concentrate on RG's outrageous claims.

So what RG claims (as advised by the Congress's internal dirty tricks department), there is gross violation in the procurement of Rafale fighter jets, which amounts to high scale corruption. Though I am sure RG won’t even be knowing what Rafale is, let’s give him the benefit of doubt here so that we can proceed with the blog. So his complain/accusation is of three folds. He accuses the government for orchestrating corrupt practice in price, propriety and workshare. What proof does RG have to substantiate his claims? Absolutely nothing; not at least something worthwhile that I have heard except for his mindless whining. Nonetheless, let's help RG a bit here and ask ourselves the real question that RG should ask himself. First question that we should ponder upon - is there anything really wrong in the modus operandi of the GOI while finalizing the procurement deal of Rafale as claimed by RG? The fact that RG is a first grade stupid notwithstanding, his bogus claims at least deserve an analysis. If not anything, we can at least stamp RG a seasoned dumb once-and-for-all and won’t take him seriously henceforth.

As per RG the price that UPA had agreed upon in 2012 for the same jets had eventually gone up significantly in the final deal that NDA signed. These are factually correct if one goes by the sheer numbers and both agreements throw up. But are numbers that straightforward here, more so while dealing with defense procurements? Of course they are not. Though the final deal has reduced the procurement of jets by 1/4^th the original amount, the price seems to have shoot up. This very point also exposes how RG is wrong with his claims. Anyone who knows how every business runs, a bulk purchase always attracts discounts from the vendor. But when you reduce your demand by 1/4^th the same vendor may reduce the discounted amount or out rightly deny any discount. Rafale isn’t any different. The price reduction that the vendor had promised were reduced when India truncated its demand. The price was bound to go up in event of that. Second thing is the timeline. UPA made the deal in 2012 and 6 years has passed since then. Who will count the standard inflation here? Does RG believe that the price of his Burberry jacket that he purchased in 2017 would remain the same in 2023? If no, then why is he expecting Rafale would forgo their share of profit margin by not aligning with the inflation index? I am not even getting into the point that, during the same time the French had a change in government and so as in their taxation. Who would factor in the increased taxation part which RG conveniently forgets to count?

But the most significant point here is the India specific customization that the new deal signed by NDA has brought on to the table. Not to mention, these weren’t part of the initial deal that UPA finalized. Now the fresh deal comes with India specific modifications, both in terms of features as well as business model. The new deal now includes a training and five-year maintenance period and 50% offset agreement. If not anything the 50% offset is quite huge. At least I am not aware of any recent international arms trade involving any country, not just India, that had this clause. Now the deal for each fighter jet stands at $243 million. Scam or without scam, it is some serious money. But are we alone who is snuffing out so much Moolah? Certainly not. During the exact time period we were engaged with the French, two other countries procured the same jets, namely Qatar and Egypt. Both of them paid more than what we are paying. If I am not wrong, Qatar dished out something around $290 million while Egypt got its wallet lighter by $250 odd million apiece. But the interesting part is, none of them had any customization, nor training, maintenance and 50% offset. Anyone remotely aware of these planes and how they are traded in international market would know that the changes and extra goodies that India had successfully managed to squeeze in the deal are significant. The minimal price increase per piece against these freebies are peanuts. But then RG is too dumb to realize what is new there in the deal and how it is different and far better from what UPA agreed half a dozen years back. If you ask me, it is an exceptionally well negotiated deal.

The second point in RG’s whining is why the runner-up Eurofighter wasn’t brought into play to bargain hard against Rafale. We will get to the technical part little later but first start with the requirement. This would also prove what I said at the start – RG would be knowing nothing about Rafale deal to begin with. 

When India started looking out for shopping options for its fighter jet requirements there were three primary pre-requisites as stated by the IAF. The aircraft should be long haul, should be high on fuel economy, and the last but the most significant of all, it should have the capabilities to carry Nuclear load. Among All those vendors who bided, only Rafale had all three criteria fulfilled. Eurofighter failed on the third point. Though they agreed to customize that part later, they agreed so quite late in the auction cycle. Even if late, why NDA didn’t consider it, more so when Eurofighter had also agreed to cut the price by 20% to what they initially bided? Fair question but we will handle it in the technical part of the deal. But, the moot question – did RG care to read through the requirement before whining? Of course he didn’t and it is evident.

Now to the technical part of the so called guideline that RG is claiming to have been sullied by Modi Sarkar. Every defense procurement in India adheres to the statutory Defense Procurement Policy (DPP). This policy is renewed and edited every three years. When NDA signed this revised deal in 2016 the DPP of 2013 (of UPA era) was still in force. In 2017 NDA brought the new DPP. According to the outgoing DPP, GOI shouldn’t encourage or felicitate price war between potential vendors in defense procurement because that could lead to compromise in quality. Rightfully Eurofighter wasn’t pitted against Rafale as per the 2013-2016 DPP. Was RG unaware of this clause? Definitely he was because it is beyond his mental grasp. Now when RG shouts why Cabinet Committee On Security (CCS) wasn’t consulted on this, I would only urge him to read through the 2013-2016 DPP, more precisely, sections 71 and 72. As per the clause/section I mentioned, inter-government deals like Rafael (the final price was approved by the French Senate) doesn’t require the approval of CCS. Not only CCS, such agreements and procurement doesn't even need the approval of Defense Procurement Board and Defense Acquisition Council. Hence Modi Sarkar's approach was perfectly within the statutory guidelines. All that is needed as per the laid out procedure in such deals is the approval of a competent financial authority, which in this case was the finance minister, and he was consulted before going ahead with the deal. So where is the violation? On what basis RG is ranting around the country?

In one of my tweets I had said RG only knows how to make gas. He is simply incapable of forth-forwarding anything worthwhile as it is simply beyond his capabilities. Had he possessed such capabilities he wouldn’t have re-incarnated to ‘Pappu’. Anyway, lets dig out more holes in RG’s whining.

Why not HAL, why Reliance shouts RG. Not only that, the usual 'Suit Boot Ki Sarkar' stupidity flies thick and fast. We will get to the technical reason little later but before that, let’s talk about commonsense, which evades people like RG and his Pidis all the time.

In fact, you don't even need commonsense to realize that HAL is waste. HAL’s track record as an aeronautics organization is dismal. Even dismal is a huge understatement. For me HAL always was the worst kind of public money wasting organization that one can think of. For the records, HAL is engaged in producing India’s first indigenously built fighter jet, code named Tejas. And they are developing it since the time Hiuen Tsang visited India. Not to mention, they have wasted a lot of money in the process. After all this, they are far from being half done. Both the times they showcased some crap in the name of Indigeneity, it was squarely rejected by defense experts and IAF as something that is not even worth ferrying cattle, much less fighting on war front. This is what the track record of HAL is. In fact, this failure is the sole reason why one would even know HAL and their existence, or else no one knows what this junk of an organization was up to all this while. For me, how HAL was there in the scheme of things at the first place sounds like a huge mental scam, if not monetary. I would actually blame UPA for even thinking about engaging HAL in something that deals with cutting age next generation fighter jets. That was out right criminal. But then dumbness attracts dumbs and precisely why RG is head-over-heels in love with HAL because both of them match in more ways than one. Three primary of them - both are hopeless and worthless, and both add no value to whatever they are engage with.

Now to the technical part. 

The final negotiation has an offset of 50% and that is for defense goods. What expertise does HAL has on this? Absolutely nothing. Not that HAL has expertise on anything. As per the agreement Dassault Systems was free to choose their partner in India for defense goods and they choose both DRDO and Anil Ambani run Reliance. While DRDO got 9000 crores worth contract, rest 21000 crores were awarded to Reliance. What the GOI could have done here when the clause clearly refrains the GOI from interfering here? Like most Pidis, RG too has given a miss to the most vital component in this whole controversy – the very agreement that GOI has signed with the French Government, with Dassault Systems as a party. They have given it a miss because the idea wasn’t to address genuine concerns, if any. All was for mindless whining with a hope that they can manufacture a scam somehow and attach it to Modi Sarkar. Even a bigger hope – it would somehow stick. But they seems to have failed themselves yet again.

Now the funniest part in whole if this. The cluelessness of these Pidis is exposed further if one looks at the manner how they are shouting all over the place. But then Congress slaves grace stupidity like no one does. A handful of Congress slaves held a protest in Mumbai against the so called Rafale scam, all the while displaying the picture of a F-16 fighter jet in their banners. Even the minimalistic homework is missing here and that reflects how serious these guys are. The original mouthpiece of Congress, for which the mother-son duo is out on bail, the National Herald, carried a front page news on this alleged scam. Paper cutout is posted to the right. Look at the self-goal. It is both embarrassing and hilarious at the same time. Most media chaps are dumb but it is something special with NH. They seem to have hired the dumbest. I am sure, RG must have handpicked each one of them. They equate Rafale with Bofors. In a way they are terming Bofors as a scam, which these guys are refusing vehemently for last 30 years. Can someone be a bigger fool than these idiots? They are so desperate that their brains have stopped functioning. Now onwards, either both Bofors and Rafale are scams or Rafale isn’t. This is how these buffoons shoot their asses without much provocation. Remember what I say every time I see a funny Congressi loitering around hard - they are so thirsty that they would crawl towards a mirage and when they would realize it isn't water, they would drink the sand. They make a joke of themselves almost every day. And yet they still ask, why none takes RG or his godforsaken party seriously.  

As for Rahul Gandhi goes – well, he is worthless and makes no sense in whatever he does or says. In fact, it is unfair if we expect RG to make any sense ever on anything. He is fed by his consultants to behave one way or the other without employing much of his own brain or whatever little he has of it. This whining too would pass through in due course, or when his instructors would confirm that the shit ain’t sticking this time either. Till RG finds another concocted story to whine around, let us allow him to go on an episodic outrage for no reason or substance at all; this time outright lies.